[Mb-civic] Troops Escalate Urgency of Evacuation - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Troops Escalate Urgency of Evacuation

By Timothy Dwyer and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 9, 2005; Page A01

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 -- Outside Kajun's Pub, between the relatively dry 
French Quarter and the heavily flooded Ninth Ward, bar owner JoAnn 
Guidos loaded up her 1991 Ford Econoline van with clothing, liquor and 
other necessities Thursday morning. After holding out for 10 days, 
Guidos and her friends were finally leaving New Orleans and heading to 
high ground.

The beer was still cold, thanks to a working generator, and hopes for 
customers were strong as the flood-ravaged city fills with thirsty 
soldiers and emergency workers.
But on Wednesday night, Guidos said, armed federal agents identifying 
themselves as U.S. marshals confiscated her weapons and ordered her and 
six friends to leave by noon Thursday.

"When you get 15 M-16s pointed at you and they line you up against the 
wall, it's kind of scary," said Guidos, 55.

With floodwaters continuing to recede and cleanup efforts beginning in 
earnest, police and the military set out on an aggressive door-to-door 
campaign here Thursday, urging remaining residents to leave or be 
removed by force.

The former Big Easy took on the air of a military encampment, as 
thousands of reserve and active-duty troops began patrolling the city 
and assisting police in search-and-rescue missions. Houses were marked 
with codes indicating whether any residents -- living or dead -- were 
found inside. Emergency workers intensified efforts to divide the city 
into grids in order to methodically retrieve an unknown number of 
corpses still in the floodwaters or entombed in ruined homes and businesses.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090802089.html?nav=hcmodule
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